Spencer
Berntsen
Officer, Bremerton WA Police Department, Expedition
Team Leader
Spencer Berntsen, 34 years of age, is a nine year veteran of the
Bremerton Washington Police Department. Spencer has served as a
Patrol Officer, a Bicycle Officer, and is currently assigned to the
department's drug enforcement unit.
Spencer Berntsen, the Expedition Team Leader for the Cops on Top
2005 Denali Memorial Expedition, has led prior successful
expeditions to Denali, Cotopaxi in Ecuador, Mount Ishina in Peru,
Pico de Orizaba in Mexico and a vast number of mountains in the
North Cascades. Spencer, a core member of the Cops on Top Climbing
Team, participated in the successful memorial expeditions to
Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro.
Spencer is married to his beautiful wife of 12 years, Maria.
Chris
Singleton
Patrol Officer, San Jose CA, Police Department,
Assistant Team Leader.
Chris Singleton, 32 years of age, is a 9-year veteran of the San
Jose CA Police Department.
Chris is a core member of the Cops on Top climbing team and is one
of the team's most accomplished rock climbers. Chris has organized
and led numerous climbs on behalf of Cops on Top, including the
annual September 11th State Highpoint Memorial Climbs, where Chris
has led climbs up the daunting face of California's Mount Whitney.
Chris has organized and led climbs in Alaska, Mexico, Russia,
Kazakhstan, and extensively in California's Sierra Nevada. Chris has
stood on the summits of Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, and Elbrus, as well
as mere feet from the summit of Denali, where as the team's leader,
he made the difficult decision that conditions were unsafe to hazard
the last feet of the summit ridge. Chris looks forward to finally
standing on the summit of Denali. Chris was recently married to his
wife, Walda.
Henk
Bezema
Utrecht, Dutch National Police, Assistant Team Leader
Henk Bezema, 48 years of age, is a Chief Inspector of the Dutch
National Police in the Utrecht region of the Netherlands. Henk is a
20 year veteran of the Dutch Police and is the commander of several
police prisons, court services and prisoner transports for the
Utrecht region.
One of the original members of Cops on Top, Henk was a participant
and the expedition's Lead Climber of the first Cops on Top Denali
Memorial Expedition in 1999. Henk has climbed as Mountain Leader for
the Dutch Royal Mountaineer Association on several trips to the Alps
in Austria, Italy, and France. He has instructed and led several
mountaineering courses in the Alps since 1980.
He has been married to his wife, Lonnie, for twenty two years and
has no children. Through his association with Cops on Top, Henk has
made many close friends in the United States.
Kaley Erickson
Battalion Chief, United States Forest Service
(retired)
Kaley Erickson, 55 years of age, is a retired Battalion Chief from
the United States Forest Service. Kaley lives in Truckee,
California.
In addition to climbing in the Cascades and the Sierras of
California, Kaley has stood on the highest summits of three
continents; Aconcagua in South America, Elbrus in Europe, and
Kilimanjaro in Africa. Kaley was with Chris Singleton on Denali and
has also climbed in Mexico, Ecuador, Russia, Kazakhstan, and various
European locations. With extensive travel experience, Kaley is the
logistics expert for many of the Cops on Top climbing expeditions.
Kaley has two children and two grandchildren.
Duncan Campbell
Saanich Police Department, British Columbia, Canada
Duncan Campbell, 30 years
of age, is presently a Constable with the Saanich Police Department
in British Columbia, Canada. Duncan has been with the Saanich Police
Department for five years. He is currently assigned in the Patrol
Division as Bicycle Officer. Prior to being hired by the Saanich
Police Department, Duncan was a paramedic with the British Columbia
Ambulance Service.
Duncan has climbed in the Cascades and has had the opportunity to
trek to the base camp of Mt. Everest in 2000.
Duncan will be getting married on April 30th, and as such, will be
the team's most newly married member.
Adriaan van Dorp
Dutch National Police
Adriaan van Dorp, 41 years of age, is a Commissioner of the Dutch
National Police in the Netherlands. Adriaan is currently assigned as
the commander of the intelligence unit of the Dutch National Police.
Adriaan is a veteran of the Dutch Royal Marines. While in the
marines, Adriaan had hoped for service in the Caribbean, yet found
himself in the Arctic Forces, serving in Norway. He still does not
like the cold.
New to Cops on Top, Adriaan has been the lead climber during climbs
in the Alps; Mont Blanc, Grand Paradiso, Aiguille Verte, and others.
Adriaan has also climbed Mount Kenya in Africa and Cotopaxi in
Ecuador. This will be Adriaan's first attempt at Denali.
Adriaan is married to his wife, Patricia, and considers himself to
be a lucky man: still wishing for the Caribbean, yet uncontrollably
drawn to the mountains.
Frank
Stevelmans
Dutch National Police
Frank Stevelmans, 40 years
of age, is a 14 year veteran of the Dutch National Police. Assigned
to the Dutch National Police Motors Unit, Frank rides a motorcycle
and is often utilized in crowd control and riot situations. Frank
joined the Dutch Marine Corps in 1982 and was in active duty until
1991. While in the Dutch Marine Corp, he was assigned to Mountain
and the Arctic Warfare, Special Forces and Para-Training Divisions.
Frank has had the opportunity to hike and climb in the Belgian
Ardennes, the Highlands of Scotland, and the Alps. Frank was a
member of the Cops on Top 1999 Denali Expedition and this expedition
will be his third attempt at Denali's summit. Frank has also
attempted Aconcagua in South America.
Frank's current hobbies are bicycling and running, as well as going
on vacations with his wife, Ingrid, and their Labrador Retriever,
"Bo".
Trever Kissel
Mercer Island, Washington Fire Department
Trever Kissel is a
Firefighter for the City of Mercer Island, Washington. Trever has
been with the Fire Department for nine years. Prior to becoming a
firefighter for the Mercer Island, Trever was a Firefighter for East
Wenatchee and Chelan County. Trever enjoys volunteering for the
Northwest Burn Foundation as a camp counselor for their week-long,
burn survivor's camps.
Trever is a veteran of multiple climbs in the Cascades and has
climbed on behalf of the Cops on Top's annual September 11th State
Highpoint Memorial Climbs. This will be Trever's second attempt of
Denali.
Trever was married this year in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
to his wife, Jennifer.
Sean Oliver
Bellevue Washington Fire Department
Sean is currently a
Firefighter for the City of Bellevue, Washington. Sean has been with
the Fire Department for four years. Sean served as a Medic in the
Navy Reserves. While in the Navy, Sean was deployed to Iraq prior to
being hired as a Firefighter.
Sean is currently working on building his first house.
Michel Caron
Team Photographer
Michel Caron, 37 years of
age, lives in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Michel is a professional
photographer and an assistant at a retirement center. Michel will be
serving as the Team Photographer for the Cops on Top 2005 Denali
Memorial Expedition.
Michel has had the opportunity to climb in the French Alps, Peru,
North America, and Argentina. Michel was with the Cops on Top 2004
Aconcagua Memorial Expedition where he greatly impressed the Cops on
Top team members with his strength, his skills, and his sense of
humor. These attributes were perfectly demonstrated when, as a solo
climber, Michel summitted Aconcagua twice by different routes on
back to back days. More importantly, Michel saved the life of a
weakened and lost climber, selflessly performing super-human feats
of strength and will to ensure the climber returned to his camp
safely on the completely other side of the mountain before Michel
returned to his own camp, all after summitting for the second time
in two days.
Michel enjoys the spectacular environment and the commitment needed
to summit the world's mountains. Michel has been active in the
outdoors all his life and likes to share his experiences of the
outdoors with his family. He is the father of two active boys.
Matt Jacobs and Seth
Berntsen, both civilian supporters of Cops on Top, will
accompany the Cops on Top Team Members in support of the memorial to
Officers White and Wolfe.
Matt Jacobs, 30 years of age, resides in Seattle, Washington
where he works as a business strategy consultant. Matt's
award-winning campaign, CRM, and his direct marketing experience
with many of the country's leading consumer, financial and
telecommunications companies, has provided the foundation for a new
business intelligence and analytical consultancy, which was recently
ranked by Forrester as one of the top consultancies in the United
States. Matt is an avid telemark skier and climber and was formerly
a climbing guide. His lifelong passion for adventure on rock and ice
have taken him to Europe, Canada, South America and Alaska. Matt is
a Carman Scholar and graduate of the University of Washington.
Matt's studies abroad were completed in Germany.
Seth Berntsen, 30 years of age, is an attorney for the law
firm of Garvey, Schubert, and Barer, located in Seattle, Washington.
Seth graduated from UC Davis in 1999. Seth enjoys running and
bicycling and has competed in several marathons and mini triathlons.
Seth is currently married to his wife, Stephanie.
Roy
Johnson, representing
The North Face, hails from Colorado. Roy has extensive climbing and
trekking experience throughout the world and was specifically
invited to join the expedition because of his great sense of humor
and his desire to add Denali to climbing resumé.
It is with great pleasure that we embark on yet another adventure,
yet, as always, our adventure has been tempered with yet another
loss of two of our fellow police officers. It is our hope that by
thus honoring Officers Eric White and Jason Wolfe that their names and legacies
will still be remembered in honor and that their memories will not soon fade.
We also wish to assure their families that their sacrifices will never be
forgotten.
